Zen renovations
How to add a little peace of mind and enlightenment to your home
There’s something truly beautiful about the decorating ideas from the land of the rising sun. The people of Japan seem to have mastered the art of spatial balance and can seamlessly blend centuries-old design techniques with their more modern variants.
If you’d like to get a little bit of Japanese Zen into your new home renovation, read on.
Firstly, what is Zen?
In non-decorating terms, Zen is the short way of saying Zen Buddhism, which is a cultural practise in many countries around the world — Japan included.
Zen is all about peace of mind and enlightenment. Without getting too heavy into the theory of it all (we do, after all, want to start talking about your new home), inspiring yourself with this art could lead to a stress-free living space, or no less than a few relaxing bedroom design ideas.
According to Interior Designipedia, the Japanese style of decorating a home is all about negative space. In other words, keeping the clutter away. You need to find balance between the space you have available and the furniture you intend to fill it with.
What colours should I use?
Your Japanese-inspired colour palette should consist of neutral hues with plenty of nature.
The Zen minimalist design often calls for a similarly uncluttered, calm paint scheme. Bright walls will help you feel at peace, so don’t be afraid to use plenty of Resene Eighth Wheatfield or Resene Eighth Rice Cake. Fresh wood stains look perfect alongside these, with Resene Colorwood Cedar popping excellently as a feature. If you don’t have beams or other architectural highlights built from wood,
you could always splash this tone on your furniture!
If you do want to add colour, soft, muted hues are what you should aim for. For example, browns such as Resene Dark Buff or greens including Resene Amulet would both match your Zen-like living spaces like green tea in the tea parties you can host in them.
Which furniture will suit your new theme?
Now on to the furniture. If you are familiar with traditional Japanese restaurants and pictures of the country’s houses, you can probably begin to guess which types of tables, beds, chairs and other elements would suit your own home. However, remember that this space has to suit your own personal taste, so you should feel free to experiment a little.
What you need to remember is to keep what you purchase nature-inspired and looking fresh.
That means natural wood colour in various shades, preferably matching what you chose in the previous section of this article. Bamboo is a good option for wooden furniture with a Japanese inspiration.
You could try adding low tables and cushion-seats, but if that’s not so good for your back then by all means get something a little taller. Tall bookshelves, wooden slat shelving, cupboards and window shades inspired by sliding Shoji doors and other similar items will look ‘pafekuto’!
Other things to consider
Remember, as you are going for a Zenlike space, you need to keep clutter to a minimum. Keep only the things that bring you joy — the rest give away for someone else to love.
Or if you aren’t brave enough to do that yet, store all the extras away and start a
1 in 1 out programme — you can only add things into your room if you remove something else.
Wooden bathhouses are also popular in Japan, which could inspire your bathroom choices. Wooden walls or features in the colour of your choice will suit the theme, alongside a tub big enough to soak in. If you want, try an actual Japanese soaking tub, which is short but deep, often with a bench for sitting.
If your decorating goes according to plan, you’ll be enjoying a sense of Zen peace in no time.